Tim Yeung

Tim Yeung
Background information
Birth name Tim Yeung
Also known as The Missile
Born November 27, 1978 (1978-11-27) (age 33)
Rochester, New York
Genres Technical death metal, metalcore, industrial metal
Occupations Musician
Instruments Drums, guitar, bass, keyboards
Associated acts Divine Heresy, All That Remains, Hate Eternal, Morbid Angel, Vital Remains, World Under Blood
Website timyeung.com

Tim Yeung is a prominent extreme metal drummer. He was born on November 27, 1978 in Rochester, New York and currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Tim started playing drums when he was 11 years old.

Biography

He attended Hochstein School of Music in Rochester, New York and graduated in 1995. He was first introduced to the death metal genre in the 1980s. His breakout performance was in 1999 on Hate Eternal's debut Conquering the Throne, after which he became a big name in the death metal scene. Although he left Hate Eternal after the release of Conquering the Throne, he started lending his talents as a live session drummer, such as with metalcore band All That Remains and death metal bands Vital Remains and Nile, and as a studio drummer, such as on ...And Time Begins by Santa Cruz, California-based technical death metal band Decrepit Birth. Currently, Tim is the drummer and co-founder for the death metal/metalcore band Divine Heresy, and can be heard on their debut album Bleed The Fifth and their second studio album, Bringer of Plagues. He is also the drummer of World Under Blood, CKY frontman Deron Miller's death metal side project. He replaced Pete Sandoval in Morbid Angel for their 2011 album Illud Divinum Insanus due to Sandoval's recent back surgery.[1]

As his nickname "The Missile" implies, Tim is known as one of the fastest drummers in metal. In 2006, Tim hit 872 bass drum hits in one minute at a World's Fastest Drummer competition, which earned him the Fastest Feet Title for that event, though not the world record, which clocked in at 1034 hits in one minute, held by Mike Mallais.[2] By Yeung's standards, 872 hits in a minute is comparatively low, translating to one minute of 16th notes at 218 BPM, which is considerably slower than the speeds he has displayed in his group work, which he has been said to get to speeds of around just over 250 BPM. Yeung has stated in interviews that he could have played much faster if he had been using his own setup.

Although he is best known as a drummer for brutal death metal bands such as Hate Eternal and Decrepit Birth, Tim has stated that he has diverse tastes. In the January 2008 issue of Drum! magazine, Tim states "...if it has a good drummer then it's good music." His straddling of the extreme and mainstream is perhaps best reflected in his work with Divine Heresy, whose music features elements of extreme death metal as well as genres such as metalcore (from Tommy Vext's vocals) and industrial metal (from Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares' guitar work).

Tim is a close friend and business colleague of film producer/musician Pascual Romero. Tim uses Axis Percussion pedals, Vic Firth sticks, ddrums, and Sabian cymbals (as seen in Facebreaker music video).[3]

References